


The Christmas Surprise

by uofmdragon



Series: Promptsgiving 2020 [6]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:54:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28368711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uofmdragon/pseuds/uofmdragon
Summary: Phil's finally coming home for Christmas. Well, to his sister's, who lives in their hometown.  He doesn't expect to spot his ex at the party.
Relationships: Clint Barton/Phil Coulson
Series: Promptsgiving 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2077536
Comments: 13
Kudos: 53





	The Christmas Surprise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [epeeblade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/epeeblade/gifts), [MiladyDragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiladyDragon/gifts).



> epeeblade requested clint/coulson Meeting the Family. Holiday surprise for promptsgiving and then miladydragon requested Clint/Coulson; old flames meeting after being apart for years, hinting for a sequel.
> 
> Then I did a third part.

Phil pulled up in the rental car and glanced over at the sullen teen next to him. He still wasn't quite sure how he'd ended up adopting her, but adopting her he had. Of course, his family hadn't been exactly impressed when he'd texted that he'd acquired a teen and was bringing her to the family holiday.

"We're here," Phil stated, unbuckling his seatbelt and climbing out.

Daisy was quiet for a long moment, before climbing out. "Are they like loaded?"

"Good jobs with an area where housing is cheaper, they can afford a bigger space for the price of my apartment." It would rankle Phil, but his sister had been the smart one of the family. She knew exactly what she wanted to do and was fine with living in the city while her husband had worked on an ore ship in the Great Lakes. When he was finally ready to settle, she was ready to move, and built a house. They weren't on the lake itself, but close enough that they could get there easily enough. 

The door opened as Phil was gathering their bags. Daisy sticking close by, clearly nervous. Delilah stepped out. "Well, you weren't kidding."

"Of course, I wasn't," Phil said, hoisting his bag and handing Daisy her backpack. "Daisy, meet Del, my sister."

"Hi," Daisy said.

"Hello," Del said, smiling at her. She took one of the bags from Phil's hand, so that he could close the car up and then followed her inside. "The cousins are coming tomorrow, they got a hotel, because we're hosting a Christmas party for Vern's work."

"Joy," Phil said. "What has Verner decided to do with himself?"

"He's working for the Parks and Department," Del replied.

Phil blinked. "Huh." Though he could kind of picture it, Verner was never going to an indoor type. "What's he doing for them?"

"Oh, he's in charge of the CityMarina work in the summer. Makes sure everything is licensed and in the winter he works on trails for the bobsledders. He also teaches safety courses for boating and hunting, that kind of thing."

"He hunts?" Daisy asked.

"Yep, it's a way of life up here," Del said with a shrug. "So how's you meet Phil?"

"He was my history teacher freshman year and ran a couple clubs. My fosters had their own kid sophomore year and decided they didn't want me anymore. I was going to have to change schools, but Phil volunteered to take me in, so I could at least finish High School in one place."

Phil couldn't imagine anyone giving up Daisy, but they had and really.

"And you're what now?" Del asked.

"A junior," Daisy answered.

Del shot a look at Phil and Phil shrugged. He'd technically been fostering her for a couple of months and the adoption papers had only just gone through. He probably should have mentioned it earlier, but nothing had been finalized and he hadn't wanted to get anyone's hopes up. He also just didn't talk to his family that much and he was going to hear it from everyone no doubt. He made a mental note to speak to Daisy about it, just to make sure she was aware that he wasn't embarrassed by her, he was just a bad communicator. 

*

Del had gone all out for the party and Phil knew far too many people that just had to stop and talk to him. He'd lost track of Daisy hours ago, but she was a good kid, especially since she'd broken up with that idiot Grant. Phil rounded a corner and froze, because no, that wasn't. Oh, but it certainly looked like it.

Same dirty blonde hair, though the nose looked slightly off as if it had been broken. Then he heard that familiar bark of laughter and watched as the man's eyes crinkled as he laughed. Oh, still gorgeous. Time had treated Clint Barton well, Phil realized as he back pedaled out of the room.

"Ms. Higgins, have you seen my sister?" Phil asked, because oh, he had questions.

"Kitchen dear," Ms. Higgins said.

Phil nodded and headed toward the kitchen to find Del there, supervising the caters.

"Delilah," Phil said.

Del turned and took one look at him and smiled. "Is there something the matter Phil?"

Oh, his sister was a rat-faced bitch. "What is Clint Barton doing here?"

"Oh, I invited him."

"I thought he moved away!" Phil said, because he had. He'd joined the military and left everything behind, including Phil, and no one had quite compared to Clint Barton. Phil was quite ruined by Clint Barton.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that he moved back and Vern's been working with him at the Parks department?"

"You did!"

"Hmm, well, maybe if you called when there wasn't some emergency happening. I would have remembered," Del said, before brushing past him and walking out.

Suddenly, the lack of ribbing last night made sense. Del already had her revenge planned and she wasn't wrong. Phil considered it, wondering if he could get away, but there really wasn't any place to escape to. He hadn't gotten a hotel and his car was definitely blocked in by now. Phil slipped out of the kitchen and retreated to the basement.

"Whoa," Daisy said, looking over the back of the couch at him. "You don't look so good." There was a second girl there, black hair and brown eyes watching him.

"Saw someone I wasn't expecting," Phil answered. "You come down here for some quiet?"

"Yeah, I meant Kate, who is like the only girl my age, so…" Daisy said gesturing toward the other girl.

"Nice to meet you, Kate," Phil said.

"Who'd you run into?" Daisy asked.

"I, thankfully, saved myself the embarrassment of actually running into my ex, but I saw him and know he's here," Phil explained, shaking his head. 

Daisy blinked and she glanced over at Kate, before looking back at him. "Are parents supposed to tell their kids this stuff?"

"You asked," Phil said. "If you want to continue to ask. I will be honest as I promised to be to you."

Daisy nodded.

"Well, I'm kind of curious," Kate said. 

"We dated in high school and some of college, before he decided college wasn't for him and joined the military and left me behind," Phil said. "I… I never got over him. Hence why you have no mom or second dad."

Daisy said. "If you had a partner, they probably would have talked you out of adopting the runaway that tried to live in a van with a record."

"No, I think he would have approved," Phil said, thinking back. Clint had just enough of a bad boy attitude that drove Phil wild. He was gorgeous and wonderful. "He had some run-ins back in the day."

Daisy blinked at him as Kate's head tilted, before shaking her head. 

"So are you trying to hide down here?" Kate asked.

"For a bit," Phil decided. "Do you mind?"

"Nah," Daisy said with a shake of her head. "But I'll remember this the next time I have a crush, so if I want to hide away. You better let me."

Phil's eyes narrowed. "Are you…"

Daisy looked at him with wide eyes. "You are my parental figure and role model."

"Did Del tell you to say this?" Phil asked.

Daisy snorted, " No."

"I need a moment to plan."

"Sure," Kate said, smiling at him. The girls giggled and Phil considered his options and if he could make it upstairs unnoticed. He doubted it.

*

The Nieminen household was packed, but Clint was not surprised that Del Nieminen nee Coulson had gone all out for a Christmas party. There were hors d'oeuvres that ranged from those little sausage wieners to a proper croquembouche. There was also wine and various liquors. Clint could seriously put himself into a food coma, if he wasn't careful. 

He was extremely glad that he'd let Natasha talk him into returning to their hometown and joining her in the Parks Department. She was Deputy Director and basically ran the thing, because Blake was too busy planning for his next political step. He'd made friends with a few people in the department. He hadn't really thought about it when Verner Nieminen had invited him to dinner one night, beyond getting a meal he didn't have to cook. He hadn't expected that it was a meal prepared by Del Coulson, his ex's younger sister. 

His ex was apparently working in the city at a high school a couple of hours away. He'd told her to tell Phil that he said 'hi', but Phil apparently never had a message back for him. Vern had said that Phil might as well as live on the other side of the country for all that they saw him. 

So, Clint wasn't really expecting for Phil to open the upstairs bathroom door as Clint was waiting. The upstairs was off limits to family, but Del had shooed him up there two years back and said he could be trusted not to snoop around. Clint always came up to this bathroom, because the line for the one downstairs tended to get long. 

Phil looked good, lost a bit of hair, but still good. 

"Phil!" Clint said, reaching out to grab his hand.

"Clint," Phil said.

"Del didn't mention you'd come to visit."

"Yes, well, Del is failing to mention a lot of things tonight."

Clint nodded. "Busy woman. Hey, we need to catch up. You wait, here, I'll be just a second." His bladder wasn't going to wait and he slipped by Phil, so he could pee. He washed his hands, smiling, and stepped out, only to find that Phil was gone. The smile fell from his face as he glanced around to see if he could spot him. No luck of course.

He headed downstairs, catching Vern's eye as he headed over to him. "I just saw Del's brother."

"Yeah, we weren't completely sure, he was actually going to show," Vern answered.

"Right, well, I had to use the bathroom and he disappeared on me. Any idea where he might have gone?" Clint asked.

Vern nodded and gestured for Clint to follow him. They headed upstairs where Vern knocked on a door and then opened it to find the lights off. He flipped them on to see an empty room and then repeated the processes again across the hall. Vern shook his head. "I don't know. I think his kid is down in the basement."

Clint hesitated, before nodding, and heading downstairs. Vern went into the bathroom as they passed it. 

"Hey Katie-Kate," Clint said, spotting the familiar profile on the couch. Kate was the intern at the Parks department. There was a second girl that looked a few years younger than Kate as well. "Anybody come down here in the past five minutes?"

"Nope," Kate answered. Her eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Ran into my high school boyfriend and I was hoping to catch up, but he apparently has no desire to do that."

"Oh, Please tell me, your ex isn't Phil," the second girl said, looking vaguely horrified.

"Unfortunately," Clint answered, with a slight shrug. "You're his kid?" Starting to do the math and maybe, he had her after High School?

"Yeah, he adopted me a couple of months ago."

"Oh," Clint said, shaking his head as he realized what she said. "Really?"

"Yeah," the girl nodded.

"Well, good to know he's carrying on the family tradition," Clint replied.

"Family tradition?" the girl asked.

"They took me in, so I could finish my senior year here and not have to move again," Clint admitted. "I'm Clint, by the way."

"Daisy," the girl said. "And same."

"Same?" Clint asked.

"My foster family managed to have a kid and decided they didn't want me when they could have their flesh and blood, so Phil took me in, except we started the process in my sophomore year. Junior now and adopted."

"Nice, I was a foster, but Bev made it clear that I could crash at their place whenever I came back. I just didn't."

"He joined the marines," Kate said. "We work together."

"Cool," Daisy said, looking at Clint. "You want me to text him?"

"Nah," Clint said, shaking his head. He sighed. "I don't think he wants to talk to me."

The two girls shared a look.

"He was down here earlier," Kate said. "Said he never got over his Highschool sweetheart and its why Daisy, doesn't have a new mommy or second daddy."

"Kate!" Daisy objected.

"What? I'm not his friend, I'm that idiot's friend," Kate said, gesturing toward Clint.

"Hey!" Clint objected.

"I've seen you get stuck in multiple trash cans," Kate said to him.

"What?" Daisy asked.

"I was trying to get cans out to recycle them," Clint pointed out.

Kate rolled his eyes. "And now, you completely forgot what I said about Phil!"

Clint started to object and then his eyes widened. "He never got over me?"

"It's what he said," Kate replied.

Clint glanced at Daisy, who nodded.

"Huh," Clint said as he considered that. Sure Clint had dated, almost exclusively women, because no man had compared to Phil Coulson. Truthfully, he'd figured that once he left for the military it was only a matter of time until Phil broke up with him via a Dear John letter, so he'd broken them up, before his heart could be broken. He looked at Daisy. "So no girlfriend or boyfriend?"

"Oh no," Daisy said, shaking her head. "You are not pumping me for information."

"You're right, that's completely not fair," Clint agreed, turning to head up the stairs. "I need to talk to his sister!" Because if anyone liked to meddle in Phil's life it would be his sister.  
*

"You sure I can't help?" Phil asked, leaning in the doorway as Del started pulling things out for their Christmas feast. They were going to have prime rib today and crab legs, because Del felt like taking a step up.

"I've got help," Del replied.

Phil arched an eyebrow as he took a sip of his coffee. "Really?"

Vern was cleaning up the living room from the gift opening. Daisy was curled up her new tablet, Phil was fairly sure she was reading an ebook. Del's kids were starting a video game, so he wasn't sure where exactly this help was coming from. 

The doorbell rang.

"Would you be a dear and get that for me?" Del asked.

Phil eyed his sister, before setting his coffee down on the counter and going to get the door. It was Christmas Day, surely, he was safe from her meddling. He'd managed to avoid Clint at the party, by ducking outside and going over to Verner's detached garage, where eventually Verner came to join him as the party got to be too much for him. They lit a bonfire and a few others had strolled out to join them, but no signs of Clint.

His hopes died as he opened the door to see Clint's smiling face along with a red haired woman he didn't recognize and well, a smaller, blonder version of Clint. 

"Hey Phil," Clint said. "This is Natasha-" he gestured toward the woman. "And this is Francis." He patted the child on the shoulders. 

"Nice to meet you Phil," Natasha said. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Right," Phil said, stepping back to let them in. The trio came in and Phil blinked, they were a perfect fucking family.

"Can I…" Francis asked looking at his dad.

"Go," Clint said. "It's not like you're going to help me in the kitchen."

"I helped frost cookies!" Francis yelled back.

"I'm well aware of that," Clint said, taking the bags from Natasha and heading towards the kitchen.

Phil felt an arm wrap around his and he glanced down to see Natasha looking up at him. "I've been wanting to have a chat with you."

"You have?" Phil asked.

"Clint's talked about you… a lot," Natasha replied.

The grip was firm and Natasha pulled him away into Del's study. "I…"

"You're a coward, Phil Coulson," Natasha said to him as she leaned against PHil's only escape unless he dove out the window.

"What?"

"Ditching Clint outside of the bathroom of the Christmas Party, so mature." 

"I don't ditch him, I needed to… I had other things to do."

One elegant eyebrow rose. "What other things?"

"I don't have to tell you."

"Oh, you don't, because I can tell you're full of bullshit. You scurried outside and hid in the garage, because I saw you that night." Natasha smiled, one that made Phil wish he could retract his genitals into his body. "I was at the bonfire, I saw how you looked at everyone they came down."

"You didn't meet me until today."

"Oh, I've seen pictures of you. I know who Phil is from Del, from Vern, from Clint."

"I don't…" Phil started. "What does it matter? I'm sorry I hurt your husband's feelings."

"Please, Clint is single. I'm pretty sure he's been waiting for you to come back. Considering, he went to your sister to talk about how he might be able to talk to you again, which is why we're here today."

"So he sent you in here to berate me?"

Natasha rolled her eyes. "No."

"Then what?"

"Clint is my friend, basically my family. You hurt him by hiding from him. I don't agree with this whole trick Phil into talking to Clint plan that Del came up with. So, I'm going to ask do you still have feelings for Clint?"

"What?"

"You heard me."

"I… Yes," Phil said, meeting her eyes. "I never liked how it ended. I wanted, I was willing to try for long distance, but he terrifies me. It hurt when we broke up and I dont' blame him for it, but..."

"Then man up and talk to him," Natasha said. "At the very least. You both might have grown up, changed, and become incompatible for something romantic, but you were friends. I doubt that's changed. Not if he's still friend with your sister."

Phil sighed. "Yeah, I'll talk to him."

"Good," Natasha said. "In return, I'll remove the miseltoe."

Phil blinked. "There's not any."

Natasha tilted her head, both eyebrows rising.

"Del," Phil groaned.

Natasha nodded and turned and left. Phil waited for a moment, before following her out. He went and glanced in the living room to find that Daisy had disappeared and Vern was on the couch.

"They're playing games on the Switch downstairs," Vern said. "Clint's helping Del in the kitchen."

Phil nodded, taking a deep breath and heading into the kitchen where the pair was busy making food. "Hey," PHil said, going to take a seat at the counter. "Have you two cooked together before?"

"Yeah," Clint said. "Mostly grilling though."

Phil nodded. "I'm surprised you came back here."

Clint shrugged. "Natasha ended up here and I followed her. Not like I have a lot of bad memories of the place."

Phil smiled. "No, I would say we have a lot of good memories."

Clint paused, before nodding.

"Except for when you broke up with me," Phil added

Clint looked up at him. "I didn't, we agreed."

"You told me you thought it was for the best and that High School Sweethearts were unlikely to last anyway. I agreed, because I didn't want to argue with you, because I thought you would respond when I sent letters and tried to keep in touch, but I not only lost my boyfriend, I lost my best friend though I didn't realize it until months later."

"I…" Clint started, looking away, before looking back at Phil. "I'm sorry, it was. It was too hard. I… Fuck Phil, I was in love with you. I didn't want to hear about college and you meeting someone else. What did you want?"

"I wanted a long distance relationship. I wanted you to know you still had a home to come back to. I wasn't going to meet anyone else, because I certainly never did. None of them compared to you. I stopped looking. Never would have looked if you and me were still a thing."

Clint stared at him for a long moment before nodding. "Girls were easier than guys for me. I had a quickie marriage, which ended up in divorce and Francis. Can't say I'm displeased with those results."

"If you had wanted a child of your blood, I would have been fine with that. Otherwise, we would have adopted."

"Like you did?"

"Yes, I saw a lot of you in Daisy, including that desperate need to move again."

Clint sighed, shaking his head. "I was definitely an iditot back then. I never thought I was good enough for you and I thought you were going to go to college and find someone smarter than me and handsomer…"

"Not likely," Phil said. "You're definitely handsomer and I seem to remember that someone else was top of the math classes in high school."

Clint's lips curled upward. "You remember that."

"Oh, yeah," Phil said. "I may have tortured you in English and History, but when it came to the Math and Physics, fuck, I'm glad I had you as a study buddy."

Clint smiled. "You would have been fine."

"I would have gotten Bs. Studying with you got me As."  
Clint opened his mouth to object, but shook his head. "Where you living now?"

"Four hours away, in the city, and I absolutely can't move until Daisy finishes high school. I promised her."

Clint nodded. "And she's a…?"

"Junior."

"So we wait two years or do what I guess you wanted to do in the first place and try long distance?"

"You want me to call Melinda, because she'll back me up on this."

"No, I dont' want to call Melinda."

"Nick would too."

Clint's eyes narrowed. "You talked to Nick? He didn't tell me."

"No, they were dating, so they both delt with me after you left."

Clint sighed, hands coming up. "I concede. We can try long distance now?"

"What makes you think…"

Clint leaned across the counter into Phil's space. "You said, no one else compared to me."

"Maybe I'm happy in my bachelorhood."

"Are you?"

"You can call and try to convince me otherwise."

Clint sighed. "I didn't think you would hold a grudge."

"We've both been apart for too long. Let's take it slow, not rush."

"Okay," Clint said, nodding. 

"Seriously?" Del asked. "All that for friendship?"

"Yeah, well, maybe you shouldn't interfere with my life," Phil pointed out.

"Whatever," Del growled. "I actually do need Clint's help with cooking, so shoo. You're too distracting for him."

Clint barked a laugh that was familiar and comforting. He retreated from the kitchen glancing back at his friend.

When he looked back, he found Natasha standing there.

"Are you going to tell me, you disapprove?" Phil asked.

"No, I'm quite proud of both of you for using your words."

"Thanks," Phil muttered sarcastically.

"Now, I see you got a new chessboard and I took the liberty of setting it up for us. What better way to determine if I do approve of you for Clint than by a few rounds of chess."

Phil chuckled, but followed her into the living room.


End file.
